As a community reporter, I once visited the crowded two-room rental flat of a couple with five children who lived on less than SG$1,200 a month. We sat on the floor — the family was too poor to afford furniture. The children didn't have any toys and wore hand-me-downs. But the older ones went to a good neighborhood school.
As dusk darkened to night, the little Tiong Bahru home reverberated with laughter. They had very little — except hope for the future.
That day I came away with a belief that has remained with me since: Nanny states don't make babies.
Loving men and women do — often against tremendous odds. And you can never fully know the myriad joys of parenthood without savoring it yourself. Full story
